By Bev Haigh-Jones
As usual, I don’t want to reproduce mainstream media articles, so I have tried to provide some less well publicised, but topical features.
We will start this month with the government – and there is plenty to go at! Of course, everyone will be aware of the recent cabinet reshuffle, the sacking of Suella Braverman, which generated a somewhat sour response, plus the appointment and ennobling of David Cameron, the person responsible for the Brexit referendum and whose past reputation is still under the cloud of the Greensill lobbying scandal. Since the new cabinet appointments we have also seen Rishi Sunak backtrack on Suella Braverman’s plan to prohibit charities from handing out tents to the homeless, so a new, softer approach one might think? Sadly, no! As the Supreme Court ruled on 15 November that the plan to send refugees to Rwanda is illegal for quite a number of reasons, Sunak announced that he was “prepared to change laws and revisit… international relationships” to further the plans. Also, quietly behind the scenes, Robert Jenrick has again been demonstrating his attitude towards refugees by following his instruction to paint over Disney murals at a child detention centre with stopping the organisation Care4Calais providing essentials such as clothing, haircuts, or even legal advice. Care4Calais are currently running a crowdfunder and plan to take the government to court. Closer to home ground, however, the campaign group Organise are running a petition to prevent the DWP from “spying” on benefit claimants. Apparently the plan is that the DWP would be able to access claimants’ bank accounts to see what they are spending their money on. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak, having arranged a meeting with Elon Musk, stated that he wants people to be more willing to give up “the security of a regular pay-check and be comfortable with failing” to start up companies. Easy to say when you have multiple millions in the bank!
Staying with government, or at least with the Prime Minister, The New European published an interesting article recently speculating on why he is as he is, and why he may not be enjoying his premiership as much as he would like. We shouldn’t feel too sorry for him, however. In a recent gossip blog, again from The New European, we hear of the mystery behind the private jet provider for the PM’s jaunts and also some interesting background on his family fortune.
Now to the Covid inquiry. For anyone who hasn’t been following, the revelations came thick and fast and probably overwhelmed previous perceptions. Led by Donkeys have produced a video of the first tranche of proceedings which is well worth the watch if you have the stomach for it, and can tolerate some colourful language. Patience Wheatcroft, writing in The New European, reinforces the idea that it was Carrie Symonds who was really in charge at No.10 during Covid, and speculates that Cabinet Minister Simon Case should have resigned long ago. The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett is ongoing and is likely to continue to be so for some considerable time. If you wish to follow proceedings, Institute for Government is providing a live blog here.
Now we come to EU and Brexit issues. Firstly, the news that, not content with our rivers and beaches being polluted with raw sewage, the government is planning to diverge further from EU water monitoring standards. Difficult to follow the logic here, but I’m sure they see it as another Brexit benefit! Fortunately, more and more people are realising that there aren’t actually any Brexit benefits, and all recent polls and articles show a majority in favour of rejoining the EU. For example, The New European states that “The question is now when, not if, we should rejoin the EU”, Huffington Post tell us that “Nearly half of voters want another EU referendum within the next five years”, whilst an article by Paul Willner, a dedicated rejoin campaigner who has sadly passed away since he wrote the feature, gives a well-researched overview of how opinions may change over the coming years. If Michael Heseltine’s view is accurate, then we may well be helped along that route by David Cameron, the newly appointed Foreign Secretary. Cameron was, of course, a remainer, and Michael Heseltine believes that may still be the case.
All is not good in the meantime, though, with our economy set to suffer for some considerable time. As reported by the National Scot, “Leaving the EU was not a ‘one-off shock’ that businesses will be able to adjust to”, this is backed up by the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, who says in the Independent, “The UK economy is stagnating and forecast to see zero growth until 2025 as it teeters on the brink of recession.”
Of course, the UK situation hasn’t been improved by the international trade deals that we have signed since Brexit. The government would have us believe that they are improvements on the previous deals we had with the EU, but our farmers in particular know differently. The EU, on the other hand, have taken a different approach. Despite the fact that an EU/Aus trade deal seemed inevitable recently, the EU withdrew at the last minute when Australia introduced additional demands that would have disadvantaged EU farmers. The EU Parliament, on the other hand, have recently signed a deal, but this time it is with the Council on Nature Restoration Law. To quote from their website, “Once adopted and applied in the EU Member States, the law will be a key contribution to reaching climate neutrality by 2050 and increasing Europe’s preparedness and resilience to the effects of climate change.” Great news for the EU, but yet another lost opportunity for the UK.
Another area where UK citizens could well be disadvantaged is in the EU job market, because of our tendency to speak only our own language. Research in Statista shows a league table of countries where residents rely almost completely on only their mother tongue, and another where speaking the local language is crucial for migrants.
Just to finish off the Brexit section, I came across a video talk recently by Professor Danny Dorling, and although three years old, the content is really interesting as it is rare to see any kind of analysis into the causes behind the Brexit vote.
In other news – none good, some bad and some, frankly unbelievable. To begin with there is the depressing revelation from Euronews that homelessness in the UK is up 6.8% on last year’s figure, with thousands in temporary housing. Then we are advised by The Telegraph that Farage and the Reform Party could well become the nemesis of the Tories and cause their downfall. Most of us would probably not shed too many tears to see the end of the current Conservative reign, but the thought of Farage and Reform holding any sway could be an even worse scenario. Moving on to the unbelievable, Byline Times reports on the appointment of Boris Johnson as adviser to the Democracy Union!
Now onto the NHS. Campaign group Foxglove are running a petition to try to stop the government signing a £480m contract with US Tech firm Palantir, to run a database which could leave our personal and medical data vulnerable. They want an NHS database designed for purpose instead, which protects patient privacy and the NHS. If you agree, you can add your name here. If, like me, you have previously signed a petition calling for the future of the NHS to be reviewed, you may be interested in the details of the debate. There is some interesting discussion that takes place and you can view a video of the debate here, or if you prefer a written transcript, that can be accessed here.
Our last section this month is offering some community information. Firstly, I came across a service recently that I had no idea existed. It is obviously not well publicised, but I imagine that it could be of great value to some people and it is the NHS Care Volunteer Responders. It seems that they can offer a variety of support including telephone chats and medication or grocery collection, for up to six weeks, for those with a medical need. Finally, scams are becoming more and more frequent and more sophisticated all the time. Many people believe that they would not be caught out, but it always helps to be forewarned, which I why I thought I would mention a free service that is offered by Which. It is an easy process to subscribe to their Scam Alert email service and they will notify you of new scams as they are identified, making it easier to spot them if they crop up.
